Inner Light Tarot: Deck Review
I'm writing this review with my neurodivergency in mind and reviewing this deck for other neurodivergents who may be interested in this deck. I am not affiliated with Llewellyn or Amazon and have purchased this deck with my own funds.
Deck Specifications
Publisher & Publishing Date: Llewellyn - November 8, 2023
Languages: English US, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese
Card Size: 2.75 x 1.19 x 4.75 inches
Price Range: $24.95 via Amazon
Art Style & Aesthetics
Style: Soft, minimalist, and feminine modernism
Flat vector style illustrations with clean lines and soft gradients.
Color Palette: Muted pinks, soft earth tones, and gentle pastels
Stand Out Card(s): The Six of Swords card really stands out to me the most out of this entire deck. I love the way it is an adult female (probably a mother) holding a child as they look onto the horizon while sailing on a boat that is surrounded by six swords as they are in calmer waters. The background of the sky is breathtaking and instantly calms me. The colors are soft, but vivid.
The artwork in this deck is very soft and calming. I have ADHD and I told me to slow down and really process the deck's images. Just looking at the cards gives a sense of peace, tranquility, calmness, and softness--as well as empowerment and strength.
First Impressions
Likes: The artwork style. I'm a sucker for minimalist, girly decks. The imagery is symbolic but not overly complex. The figures are stylized with diverse skin tones and hair textures. It's a highly intuitive deck that helps you pause and connect.
Dislikes: Lack of diversity of body types (plus size women do yoga too!), the tarot symbolism is abstracted and more about body language as their yoga poses and stances can interpret the figures more rather than faces.
The Review
The Inner Light Tarot comes in a flimsy tuck box. I feel like the box isn't going to last for a very long time. At least, not as long as the cards will. Inside the box comes with a LWB (Little White Booklet). The LWB is printed in multiple languages ranging from Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and US English. The booklet comes with meanings of each card. The meanings are Rider-Waite-Smith based. It does not come with keywords or reversals. This deck was not made to be used with reversals as you can tell easily when a card is reversed while shuffling. The cardstock is glossy and shuffles easily, in my opinion. The cards glide easily. There is a potential for jumpers and cards facing up when you shuffle.
I would say The Inner Light Tarot's greatest strength as a deck is bringing you awareness and mindfulness. This deck would be great for those who are yogis and yoga teachers. If you know the poses (which I certainly don't as I'm not a yogi and haven't done yoga since 2014), you should be able to intuitively interpret the cards with an extra layer of symbolism.
The suits in this card remains the same as the RWS -- although Knights are known as Warrirors and Kings are known as Goddesses. So the Knight of Wands is the Warrior of Wands and the King of Pentacles is the Goddess of Pentacles. There is symbolism such as waning, waxing, full, and new moons as well as sitting, standing, and grounding poses. The RWS symbolism is abstract, unlike traditional RWS decks.
One thing I didn't care for in this deck was the lack of body type diversity. Yoga is not restricted to just skinny women. I have seen women over 200 pounds do simple Yoga poses and even more difficult poses. I, myself, have done yoga when I was at my heaviest weight of 255 pounds on the Wii Fit.
As for how it reads, as a neurodivergent, the cards can be kind of difficult to interpret. I'm not the best at reading body language and I feel like this deck isn't neurodivergent friendly for those who struggle with interpreting posture and body language. My ADHD side, however, appreciates this deck because it brings calming vibes and reminds me to take my time with interpreting the card's messages. I also find that knowing the basic structure of the RWS is helpful when interpreting the cards. I would say this deck is for more intuitive intermediate to advanced tarot readers, and those who study Yoga or practice Yoga.
I love the minimalist art style and the digital illustrations. The lines are clean and there is muted pinks, soft earth colors, and gentle pastels althroughout the deck. The colors paint a very tranquil and feminine vibe. I feel though, the meat in the reading is definitely with interpreting the poses and postures in the cards. And that is something I struggle with because I don't study Yoga and I am not an active Yoga practitioner.
Overall, this deck I would recommend to my yoga girlfriends or queer feminine friends. I would also recommend it to those who need help slowing down and calming the mind. I would recommend using this deck for personal use, rather than clientele readings. I'd especially recommend it for meditation, journaling, and shadow work. The deck is definitely gentle, yet empowering.
Will It Stay or Will It Go?
Honestly, I might keep it. I haven't decided if I want to get rid of it yet or keep it long-term. But for now, it stays and I continue working with it. I'll probably use this deck for readings on Instagram and my own personal readings. I don't think I will ever work with it in my professional readings. So it will stay unless I find another gentle, feminine deck that I like even more.
Similar Decks
The only deck I can think of that is similar to this deck is The Light Seer's Tarot by Chris-Anne and is published by Hay House. Except, I feel The Light Seer's is more shadow work based while The Inner Light Tarot is great for mindfulness and meditation and journaling. You can do shadow work with this deck, however, I don't think it will be as hard hitting as The Light Seer's Tarot is.
The Deck At Play
Here is an example reading for the collective who are currently reading this blog and my thoughts on how well it reads.
What message does the Inner Light Tarot have for the visitors of this blog?
Eight of Swords, The Devil, Judgement
The Eight of Swords shows a woman standing on one foot with her leg crossed and her arms crossed in front of her face. She is wearing a blindfold and is surrounded by eight swords. She is not "trapped" like in the traditional eight of Swords. Instead, she looks like she is freeing herself from that which tries to trap her. She intuitively knows she is free, it's just a mind over matter thing.
The guidebook says "Oppressive thoughts can be overcome if you are ready to come out of the shadows. Open your mind and release your thoughts towards new perspectives."
Because this is in the past position, I'm going to say you have been working towards liberating yourself from oppressive thoughts and negative beliefs you've held about yourself. You may have been stuck in an emotional loop of "I'm not good enough" or "I am not worthy". Or you may be going back and repeating negative behaviors.
The next card we drew was The Devil. We see a nude woman with goat horns, representing the planet Saturn and the zodiac sign of Capricorn. She is sitting criss cross applesauce with her left hand on her chest and her right arm raised. She is surrounded by apples and pomegranates. Behind her is a window with red velvet curtains with a black starry sky.
The guidebook says "You need to indulge in deep inner contemplation to bring your shadows into the light. The temptation to run away from pain may be strong, but if you choose to get in touch with your emotions, you will be able to create peace between the light and the shadows".
This is the present position. There is a temptation to return to negative belief patterns and oppressive thoughts. You are learning how to balance light and shadow. It's okay to have dark thoughts. It's okay to not be okay. You're acknowledging the pain you're going through currently and you are afraid of regressing into old behaviors or thought patterns. You are probably doing some shadow work or some deep dark night of the soul stuff. You are transmuting darkness into light.
The final card we pulled was Judgement. Judgement shows a woman with long blonde hair standing in water with her hands reaching for the sky. Two trumpets are in the sky, signaling a reawakening or a rebirth. The water represents purifying emotions while the waterfall can indicate cleansing.
The guidebook says "Welcome evolution and you will succeed in breaking with the past. To achieve your inner rebirth, you need to abandon old practices and open up to your new context.'
This card is in the future position but offers advice on how to break free of repeating oppressive thoughts and negative beliefs. Look at things from an evolution standpoint. Forgive yourself for when you do backslide and learn from that mistake. Forgive yourself. Start over the next day, the next hour, the next minute. Allow yourself to be reborn by starting over and knowing that healing is not linear.
So to sum up this reading. The people reading this blog may be struggling with oppressive, negative thoughts and beliefs or negative patterns. They have been working very hard at freeing themselves from these behaviors, patterns, or thoughts. But the Devil coming in the present position, suggests there may be temptation to self-sabotage the hard work you've been putting in. Instead, blend light and shadow. Every shadow shows light. And every light shows a shadow. Embrace your shadow sides as well as your light sides. It's okay to backslide. Just acknowledge the pattern and then evolve. Figure out what you could do differently and apply it. Allow yourself to begin again every day, every hour, every minute. Your thoughts are going in a new direction. Instead of shaming yourself for having negative thoughts or repeating bad patterns, you're leveling up and asking "what is this trying to teach me?". You are literally transmuting darkness into light. It's always darkest before dawn, but it won't be dark for long, even if it may seem bleak right now. Don't give up. Keep fighting. Breathe. And allow yourself to grow, learn, and evolve.
I feel like this reading was kind of easy to interpret. The guidebook was helpful with the meaning and putting together with the meaning of the card plus the guidebook's meaning, it turned out an okayish reading. I think the meat of the reading is still within the different postures and poses and knowing the meanings behind those postures and poses. It helps to know the RWS background, but other than that, you should definitely know your abstract symbolism and have a yoga background in order to get a really good reading out of this deck.
Final Thoughts
The Inner Light Tarot will most likely be a deck I reach for when I want to calm my mind and reflect. I'll probably do readings on Instagram with it, but it won't be in my reporotoire of decks I use with clients. This deck reminds me of my business coach, Lauralyn Kearney, who is a Yoga student and teacher. I would probably gift this deck to my friend Lauralyn if I wanted to get rid of it. Or gift her an extra copy of it. I feel like I can't bond with this deck as well as a student or teacher of Yoga can.
This deck is pretty. And very aesthetically pleasing. It's definitely an Instagram-worthy deck. I can picture a tarot reader or tarot deck collector taking beautiful photographs or making pleasing reels with this deck. It definitely gives off the calm and tranquil vibes and the reading felt peaceful and gentle, unlike most of my tarot decks that I own (such as Pulp Girls Tarot or Cozy Witch Tarot).
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐/ 5 Stars
I am in no way affiliated with Llewellyn or Amazon. This deck was purhcased with my own funds. This review is strictly opinion. It is not designed to throw shade at creators or publishers. This is to help inform other tarot readers, especially neurodivergent readers, select decks.
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